Don't jest a man who has dedicated 36 years of his life to build such a nobile cause, unless you think you can do better. Can you stick to a noble cause for even 5 years, to serve the community? I urge you to stop making a fool of yourself. I doubt your years of condom collection doesn't even outlast his years of dedication.

Dear 'Minority' Man, you seem to be such a creative and man full of humour, why don't you volunteer your time and work 12-14 hours for a charity, for only a year and comment then??

Don't jest a man who has dedicated 36 years of his life to build such a nobile cause, unless you think you can do better. Can you stick to a noble cause for even 5 years, to serve the community? I urge you to stop making a fool of yourself. I doubt your years of condom collection doesn't even outlast his years of dedication.

Dear 'Minority' Man, you seem to be such a creative and man full of humour, why don't you volunteer your time and work 12-14 hours for a charity, for only a year and comment then??

Minority Man is a kind man that’s why he dun go around and cheat people like u fool, think that durai is an angel durai work 18 hrs a day for 600k not for the patients. you can run NKF like a company but you not like a company because that is not your money!!! further more NKF growing so fast not just becuase of durai one man show, i Believe there are many undiscoved persons behind who are they???

You're juz an idoit who has nothing better t0 do. Don't insult ppl like that.you will not like too if someone make fun of your name. If u think you're very smart, juz go n run NkF yourself.YOu're really good for nothing. Do u know that?

Here we have a society crucifying a man who ran a social service helping kidney patients. He didn't rob or run away with NKF's money. But not long ago, we had a clerical officer from an airline company who stole 35Million Singapore dollars over 13 long years under everybody's noses. And the best part is he splurged the stolen money on his family and his mistress. How come our intelligent society didn't have much to say about that? Any takers?

Dont always look at the negative. If want transparency, then all monies donated not only to charities, but churches, mosques, temples have to been made known too. When one donates, it is for good intention and trust. If the receiver has misplaced the trust, then let retribution be with him/her. By making fun of one's name and misfortune, you are no better than him/her.

Please everyone cool off ! I am sure everyone has learnt a lesson or 2 with this classic case.Let Durai "retire" in peace. Afterall, he has served a crucial need in our society and without his initial role in this, NKF would not be what is it today. Let's face that reality ! Also, this is not a one man show --- what about the rest who are equally answerable ?? lets not forget that. Don't mince the guy!Its just not his year !

Well in the case of Durai, some say run the company then compare yourself with durai, well u morons pay me $25K a month and 10-12 months bonus (totalling to 0.5mil/year) i will deliver what he delivers, and i'll even add in a promise of a bonus, i wont use NKF to pay my persona benz maintenance and fly first class. that i can afford on my own without leaching on thepublics money: Moral of the story- they pay high so that CEO (who are trusted with will remain happy and continue to do a good job) not think that the money belongs to him or he deserves something, or be arrogant enuff to think that without him that NKF cant be what it is without him. There are toones of people out there who are as capable as him and even more capable. And the fact the board is on it with him , they should be purged. Key word my dear people is "Non Profit Organization", they shouldn't even have been paid that much in the first place. Its peoples money thru donation in good will to help less unfortunate and not business. Differentiate that and we will understand wherethe line has to be drawn.

I am simply disgusted that there are still people who support Durai. I wonder if these people have seen how the poor and needy lives or not. Compare this to the stark contrast of Mr Durai and the board members ways of life and you'll see how unfair it is. Please do not tell me he has done good work for more than 30 years. IMO he has been amply compensated for his efforts. There are 3 reasons why he is crucified:1. He is the most prominent.2. He is dealing with the money of thousands of stakeholders, NOT shareholders. So long as a person has donated money, it is only right it is spent for the purpose of the donation.3. In the eyes of the stakeholders, he has betrayed our trust and misused the funds meant for the needy, NOT for him or anyone else.And please do not tell me that I am calculative. Which idiot in the right mind will donate without a purpose? If you can find one, I will expect your $600000 peanut.

Do not condemn anyone yet. Let judgement take its place. Nobody in this world is perfect. If he is in the wrong then he has to pay for it, if not do not waste time and condemn him. I am sure there are lots of people holding high post are also cheating only that it is found out!

Do not laugh and jeer at people because you will never know when those who laugh at T T Durai will turn to NKF for help. Those who laugh and make fun of him will surely end up as kidney failure patients for sure!!!!!

well guys..here are my thoughts..u shouldn't compare salaries.Because the salary was not decided by him in the first place.even if someone take over,i will think they will get the same pay and perks..that's reality,why will a sane ceo will go for something less.the postion is ceo not general manager of a company..

hello guys..look in the big picture ceo's are known for big packets.i feel the board should have explain for his high pay,since they are the one who offered the contract..well we paying a ceo not a general manager...

Great comparison. On another note,I feel that NOW is the time for other needy Volunteer Welfare Organisations to make themselves known. Needy charities who can't even qualify for flag day. These small charities should now step forward & let S'poreans know that there r other needy charities that need their donations. IMO there's more than enuf money for NKF already. They shld stop $ let others have a chance or better if they can HELP others to raise funds with their enormous resources.

Guys TT Durai as a CEO is an employee of NKF.Whatever he is paid or is entitled to is passed by the Boad of Directors..the questions is who are the members of the Board and why is no one talking abt them..

TT Durai, may have been paid a large sum of money as salary , but he certainly did not steal it.. so stop bitching abt it..

WHile the press has gone about showing how he has utilised his car for personal use and how his car has been maintained by NKF funds....the issue is..was he entitled to do so..

I salute TT Durai..for his dedication..and commitment and during theis whole drama while the odds were stacked against him..he could have easily lined up a thousand patients and thier families and would have let the media face up to them and say that TT durai,.has made a difference in ther lifes..but he has chosen not to..

While we are bitching about his salary, what was the IRAS and this Government doing all this while..u mean no income statement was submitted to IRAS.

To what i understand, this goverment has lost billions of dollars fo our reserves in bad investments..i dun see any minister stepping down, and yet their salary is higher than TT Durai's..

If the givernemnt was doing its own job no one would have had to seek the help of the NKF..just think abt it..So why dun u heroes of virtue and wisdom ask the Minister for Health to Quit..

to all those that think that we should forgive and forget't.t.durrai.well i have this to say .wake up we have been fool one to many times already.remember this is suppose to be a charity organisation.and most of the money is coming from honest,hard working people who is even struggling to contribute but is doing their part for NKF.just to think that we have been cheated by them all.T.T.Durrai and his merry men.

'Golden tap scandal' turns on rare outpouring of public anger in Singapore

SINGAPORE, July 17 - In Singapore, where public protests are banned and the government has tamed the media, it took an unlikely golden tap in a luxurious office to turn on a rare outpouring of widespread community anger.

Singapore's biggest charity, the National Kidney Foundation, was the focus of the outrage last week after an attempt to avoid scrutiny over its chief executive's lavish perks and 600,000-Singapore-dollar (350,000-US) salary spectacularly backfired.

The saga began when the foundation and its chief executive, T.T. Durai, sued the Straits Times newspaper for defamation over an article published last year that raised questions about how donors' money was being spent.

They claimed the article, which said a 1,000-dollar gold-plated tap had been installed in the private bathroom of Durai's office suite then removed after protests from the building contractor, had damaged the charity's reputation.

In his libel suit, Durai, who had led the foundation since 1992, said the implication that donors' funds were being misused was "scandalous" and "ridiculous".

However, Durai went to court apparently unaware the case would force him and the foundation to reveal a wide range of facts and practices that the Straits Times' legal counsel said the organisation had long tried to keep hidden.

During a torrid two days of questioning in court by the newspaper's lawyer, Durai was forced to reveal his salary and that donors' money paid for his first-class flights overseas as well as the upkeep of his Mercedes Benz.

Durai also reluctantly admitted the foundation had misled the public over how long its reserves of 260 million dollars would last if donors' money stopped pouring in, as well as how many patients it treated each year.

After finally conceding the original article about the tap was indeed not defamatory, a defeated Durai on Tuesday withdrew the libel suit with his and the foundation's reputation in tatters.

On Thursday, after more than 40,000 people had signed an on-line petition calling for Durai to quit and the government had expressed major concerns, he and the 15-member board resigned.

Prominent lawyer Tan Choo Leng, the wife of former prime minister and current Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, also stepped down as patron of the foundation after initially publicly backing Durai's salary.

It was an enormous come down for one of Singapore's highest-profile organisations, which was formed in 1969 and rose to become the self-proclaimed "largest not-for-profit (kidney) dialysis provider in the world".

An estimated two thirds of Singapore's population have donated to the foundation, which employs an aggressive, commission-based marketing model and regularly holds television donation drives featuring celebrities.

"This whole issue has been about transparency and accountability," 20-year-old national serviceman Lawrence Tan, who started the on-line petition after reading about the court proceedings, told AFP.

"The public has showed them a lot of support for a long time, it's only right they should be held accountable by the public and that they should be more transparent."

But government critics say the "golden tap scandal" has generated so many expressions of anger from the community because it was also a rare opportunity for ordinary citizens to vent their frustrations at figures of authority.

-- Libel cases brought to silence crictics --

Aside from the online petition, there was also a blitz of letters to newspapers and complaints on radio talk shows, as well as the foundation's head office being vandalised with graffiti.

"This is almost a surrogate situation. It's basically a reaction because they (the community) can not speak out against the government," prominent opposition politician Chee Soon Juan told AFP.

"The government has basically got a lock on society."

Chee said the National Kidney Foundation could not operate without having close government links. Yet he said the charity was not a direct government body and was thus seen by the public as a "safe" target for criticism.

Chee said the issues of transparency, accountability and high salaries raised in the National Kidney Foundation affair were also matters of concern for the public in regards to the government.

The People's Action Party, which has ruled since the nation's independence in 1965 and currently holds all but two seats in parliament, has ensured government ministers in Singapore are among the highest paid in the world, saying it keeps them from becoming corrupt.

Another opposition group also said last week's charity saga raised broader questions about the use of public money by all government bodies.

"The public has the right to ask, and the equivalent right to a satisfactory answer, from institutions charged with the handling of public money," National Solidarity Party president Yip Yew Weng said in a letter to the government.

"These institutions include ... the nation's public offices."

In pursuing defamation action, the National Kidney Foundation also attempted to use a tactic that senior Singapore government figures have successfully used over many years.

The career of Singapore's most famous opposition politician, J.B. Jeyaratnam, was destroyed by defamation suits from the nation's founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, among others.

Fellow opposition politician Chee is also facing bankruptcy after losing a defamation suit to Lee and his successor, Goh Chok Tong.

While Lee and Goh have insisted the defamation actions are necessary and legitimate actions to defend their reputations, Chee and others maintain the libel laws have been used to silence government critics.

In the National Kidney Foundation's case, the charity successfully won damages and apologies from two people in 1998 who said Durai and other senior figures in the organisation had flown internationally on first class.

But in court last week, the defamation tactic ended up destroying Durai's career and the NKF's reputation after he admitted that he indeed flew first-class on foundation money. - AFP

Think of how hard he worked to build up this foundation for the many many dedicated ears that he has put in. A little fumble down the line and you ppl never delay to crush someone DO YOU!!! Well guess these are SINGAPOREANS WAY!! :( sad to say that I am a singaporean too :(

Hey you ppl crush a person down like a cigratte butt.Never think of all the hard work he has put in all these years. Well I guess these are SINGAPOREANS.. Yes he has blundered BUT I dont think we need to behave in such a manner with the use of all these CRUEL languages!! SAD TO SAY THAT I AM A SINGAPOREAN ever waiting to CRUSH another fellow Singaporean. He has blundered..he has admitted it.. Get him out of the seat..Put in new management. thats it. DO NOT CRUSH PEOPLE DOWN!!!!!!!!

TT Durai as a CEO is an employee of NKF.Whatever he is paid or is entitled to is passed by the Board of Directors..the questions is who are the members of the Board and why is no one talking abt them..

I salute TT Durai..for his dedication..and commitment.TT durai,.has made a difference in theirlifes..but he has chosen not to..

Singaporeans, can you all be broadminded. Don't simply follow anyhow. Think on your own.

THE GUY WHO CREATED THE BLOG ON THIS IS VERY NARROWMINDED.....WHO DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT POLITICS......A CEO ARE SUPPOES TO BE PAID LIKE THAT.....THEIR JOB ISN'T THAT EASY AFTER ALL AND T.T. DURAI DID MAKE NKF 1 OF THE BEST NON PROFITABLE ORG. BUT THE BOARD JUST DON'T KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN.....TO THE BLOG CREATER AND ITS SUPPORTER U GUYS NEVER THINK THRU PROPERLY.....IF U ARE IN THE SHOES OF T.T. DURAI WOULD U EXPECT A PAY OF 2 - 3K A MONTH AND BE A CEO?? UNLESS U ARE JUST GOING FOR RANK BUT DON'T MIND THE PAY....THAT U ARE BLOODY STUPID....LET SEE HOW U STRIVE IN FUTURE...

I am just sick to know that 40 000 of my own fellow Singaporeans went online to make TT Durai quit.Just becos they donate,it doesnt mean they can decide on behalf of NKF,and NKF is not a country club or other organisation for them to vote.When movie tickets go for $1.60 instead of the usual price to celebrate SPH 160th birthday these cheapskates rushed in as though their families r from the third world countries.When fares for public transport went up nobody got together for everyone is afraid they might get their backs whipped by the government.PussyCats!This nation has turned into grab-everything-free-dont-care-abt-ppl.We have seen enough to say we REALLY need grace to survive morally.

Ministers earn much than $25k per month but do they raise funds for needy people? Nah!!!! They just up the prices and bus fares and ERPs and COEs and GSTs and what else? Do ppl complain? Nah!!!! I smell a dirty little rat called racism sneaking into our society,he was away for some time but seems to be back for something.Funny though he is always not around on AUG 9 when one ppl one nation one Singapore is being held to show off to the world.

I guess the young punk by the name of Lawrence Tan who started the website to garner support to kill off TT Durai can become the next CEO of NKF.That fool has not even finish his national service but trying to run a charitable organisation from the comfort of his sofa at home surfing the net.TT Durai started his service 37 yrs ago when that SAtan (ooopss,sorry) Lawrence Tan was not even born.Our Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew did an excellence job of running this country bcos he was there flesh and blood and not hiding behind a PC or inside his office verbally running the country.He slashed and chopped his opponents because he knew these ppl will only be there for the publicity for the time being.

this lawrence tan is a brave man.but we need more of this type ofcharacter. a person who knows howto get things going. 3 cheers..as for you, i know you feel sad fortt.durai, i supposed you are not the only, they are others , including his parents, brothers andkins.tt durai just made a wrong calculation , that's all.he thought he had made a big kill, but in the end, kills himself.well, blames no one.in the art of war, you must knowyour enemy.

No point arguing.... Those ppl like Minority Man belongs to ppl who only knows how to rub it in when someone is being condemned... they know nothing but like to create something big out of it... if one day, he is the one who being condemned... see how he reacts... Donation is not compulsory but volunteerily... No one force you to donate... I believe u can ask those NKF patients... see whether did they benefit from NKF anot... I don't favour NKF... but I think a lot of things can be settled PEACEFULLY... Don't watch too much JUSTICE BAO... else I think u will become CHAR SIEW PAU...

do we even need to judge TT Durai? Was he not totally defeated in court? Do we even need to say more?

I have been a faithful donor since I have started work, but how do u feel when u heard your friend's mother having kidney problem went to NKF for help, but was turned away because they could not meet certain criterias and need to pay a high sum of dialysis money, which they cannot afford? all the money we donated, thru GIRO, calls and donation cards all these years. whatever happened to them? if NKF is there to help people, why are there patients who was turned away? shouldn't it help ALL kidney patients?

I read with interst the on going saga of Mr. T.T.Durai vs Durex.Let me put it in these way,you just caculate the salaries he is taking every month for the past says 25yrs and you mean to say he cannot even pay some extra money for his own comfort on the first CLASS seat.Don't be surprise his breakfast of roti prats and teh terak goes into the NKF account.Without doubt he is a hard working man but do not take the donors for a ride. He step down just not to let more of the running water out of his golden tap.

how do u feel when u heard your friend's mother having kidney problem went to NKF for help, but was turned away because they could not meet certain criterias and need to pay a high sum of dialysis money, which they cannot afford?

of course feel bad lah... that's why i don't donate much to NKF... but NKF is an organisation... don't belong to TT Durai... He is bearing the responsibility becos he is the CEO... Can you all see the picture? how many more ppl r involved in tis incident? we don't know... so he has to take all the blame...

Now that everyone is observing NKF... I believe they will handle the issue more carefully... So the next CEO definitely will be a better one lah... unless he's so daring.........

NKF patients still need to get on with their lives... stop blowing the matter big...

It is not necessary for any charity organization to have a CEO. Instead they should have managing directors who are responsible for managing funds from stakeholders. CEOs command extremely high salaries and are a designation created for the corporate world where organizational profit is the be all and end all. Too many things in Singapore are run as profit generating entities. It's not necessary for one charity organization to hold so much in reserves. Kidney failure is not the ONLY life threatening disease. What about heart failure? musculoskeletal diseases? Even myopia??(it's not life threatening but definitely the most prevalent) Maybe NCSS would have been better off placing TT Dorai with his mega fundraising abilities in charge of fundraising for ALL the charities in Singapore, rather than just one.

Your comments are cool. Its amazing that a majority of people are condeming TT Durai for his actions but then again i guess the fact is forgotten that he has spent a large proportion of his life serving NKF. Well CEOs do deserve CEO benefits too. Its sad that donors funds are used to fund the huge salaries of the CEO and other staffs but the bottom line should be that such charity organizations should not have a CEO. If they do have a CEO and function like any corporate organization then the CEO deserves a comparative market treatment. In such a case though transperancy is needed so that donors do not feel cheated. As for the many people who are bitter about his pay package i suggest u do some market review on how much CEO's of that position (taken into consideration the organizations' worth, strength, number of employees etc) are paid in the corporate world. With the amount of effort that Durai has placed into building NKF, I m sure that if he was working for any other organization, he would be drawing a much higher or equaivalent salary... so i guess he is being paid on an equitable or infact underpaid for his work, talents and capabilities. Its sad though that this payments come from donors....

A charitable organisation does not function like its corporate counterparts. It is already fundamentally wrong for a person to draw such a high salary from donated profits. It can be thought as if the CEO is 'taxing' the donations given. Many private company CEOs are paid maybe on equivalent or lesser and they work equally hard too. However, there is almost always personal capital involved and also risks of losses to be taken. What risks does the NKF or its CEO have? It must be clearly differentiated that the CEOs in the corporate world EARNED what they have while the NKF CEO takes a cut of donated proceeds for his 'services' to the charity. It is also not justifiable to take a big cut out from the charity box just because the Singaporean citizen got generous and donated more money.

I have read all your comments lah, but every single person from day one has not yet asked this very crucial question.In the Singapore system of "guilty until proven innocent", how did TT Durai get away with it? He did not PROVE to the donating public that the funds for 1st Class travel and golden taps etc. did not come from the NKF and nor has he proven that he has "paid the difference."

The two men he sued in 1998 in my opinion, should seek legal redress and get their money back.

man has a funny behaviour, i won't take sides on either nkf or the masses, but i've read some of the comments and i find it amusing.

usually, some poorer people, who has more sense in life, are the ones who are more protective over criticisms, while those who are richer, criticises more often.

do not be quick to judge each person until you have seen through that person's soul and bones.

some of you give good comments to durai some give bad comments,but how do you tell if he is good or bad,

like one mentioned, if you commanded a huge sum of salary, technically u command a more respected post or higher stress job, thus doing a super job that most people cannot do.

on the other hand if he had command only the avg of $2k a month, probably he won't be the durai thats up there in the chairman seat.

you may say he is brilliant or something but dun forget how many graduates out there are driving taxis and owning hawker stalls, are they stupid? u tell me..

LOOK at your self or your friends, compare whos more arrogant, the one with higher pay or the one with lower pay, amongst urselfs and your families.

usually but not quite often (thankfully) the one with higher pay tends to be more arrogant..

simple test:

pay yourself $2 k a month for the next 10 yrs , live in a hdb, u tend to live natural lifestyle, some friends, command more respect, is content usually.

pay yourself $100k a month , u aren't gonna just sit down and keep your money in the bank, or pay it to charity that often, you probably get a new car, buy a new landed house, tends to show off, GETS more respected(not that you deserve it sometimes), become arrogant along the way.. eat at restaurants, even your ward gets a bigger tip of allowance, has more friends that usually are there bcos they feel richer with you, tends to try and sue every one you meet... jus cos u have enough money to cover the fees... ,

this thoery doesn't apply to all, (suppose we are to be glad on that one)but still it applies to more then 2 handfuls of people.

real situation:

a friend who had recently been promote to the post of financial managerial position, command a more then avg pay, i'm sure as any of that position would have, he just ain telling me how much... well not my business to know any way..

he used to be humble, he wasn't very well to do in the past, some technicaly positions, low wages, used to go to hawkers centers for meet ups :) or coffee shops.

but now ... he is different, you can tell, he is so much different that sometimes he not the same person i've known, i won't say arrogant atleast he doesn't display that trait, i dunno how to describe it, he is like more generous, we seldom meet up now but when we do its no longer the place he usally suggested, mostly, place a well to do person would have gone to, like those, delefrance, cafes, equinox.. those kind of place.. for what .. for coffee........... man...

money CAN and WILL change you, be weary of it. be cautious, it usally for the worst, not for the good.

Incredible!! There r people who actually says lets forgive and move on.Hello, will u forgive and move on if someone enter your house and robbed u of everything. If these people r serious there would be no need for laws and prison.Be real to yourself are you related in some ways? I would say lets forgive the shoplifter Yes but a con job that con poor people. You ask your conscience.That is if it is there???

TT Durai has done alot of good, NKF would be now where without him. And im sure he has had his fair share of mistakes but he is no criminal. If this case was in US or UK, it would have been thrown out because the key witness was inconsistent in his statements, it is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty not guilty until proven innocent. And i think all of us who like to step on a man when he is down, should ask yourself whether we would like to be treated the same way when find ourselves down and out in life. Everything comes a full circle in life so we should becareful what we say.Do unto others what you would expect others to do unto you.

Truth is T T durai misappropriated funds and in doing so excluded numerous patients in need vital medical services that could otherwise have been provided while riding on the so called succeess of NKF's dialysis program for good reputation. It cannot go any lower. To have any sense to defend this man's act by totally overlooking his crime, is akin to defending a leader of a deviant cult who has just murdered some young children and women by saying that his enlightenment is beyond our undestanding. Also, can someone verify whether the rumour that Tan Choo LEng and TT were having a long term affair is true? And that he is re hired in the middle east by her company?

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